Combination adjustable utility chair



Oct. 23, 1956 w. A. LEONARD 2,767,771

COMBINATION ADJUSTABLE UTILITY CHAIR Filed Dec. 27, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l M W 1 45 3 W50 :50 LIV 5, I g5 ,m 6

5 iilii'llfi w r i INVENTOR. f 5 g 16 Wa UrerA/leonam aim ATTORNEY Oct. 23, 1956 w. A. LEONARD 2,767,771

COMBINATION ADJUSTABLE UTILITY CHAIR FiledDec. 27. 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1% l5 a 46 46 it, I

IN fi 7 ll| UH W wwwwm\w fig .5 HIH l 5M x Muu/ "Wi 12 HI H 1Z2 K j WW? I |l| H 42 .25 26 2 25- F 25 2'7 Z INVENTOR.

WdUierALeonard I BY AT TORNEV United States Patent" COMBINATION ADJUSTABLE UTILITY CHAIR Walker A. Leonard, Bronx, N. Y.

Application December 27, 1954, Serial No. 477,829

2 Claims. (Cl. 155-43) This invention relates to articles of furniture, more particularly to oversized chairs of the type used in the living room, and the main object is the provision of certain new and useful improvements which enhance the utility and practicability of the chair as well as the comfort and convenience of the user.

The above broad as well as additional and more specific objects will be clarified in the following description wherein characters of reference refer to like-numbered parts in the accompanying drawings. It is to be noted that the drawings are intended solely for the purpose of illustration and that it is neither desired nor intended to limit the invention necessarily to any or all of the exact details of construction shown except insofar as they may be deemed essential to the invention.

Referring briefly to the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a chair embodying the features of the present invention, as it normally appears when not adjusted or extended to serve added conveniences or to give access to interior parts serving as storage compartments.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevational view of the chair.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, also showing in broken lines various parts thereof in adjusted positions.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. Fig. 3.

Fig. Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is a side elevational view of the chair, with parts broken away or omitted to expose the .interior, and partly in section.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary plan view of the bottom panel of the chair.

Referring in detail to the drawings, the numeral 10 indicates the seat of the chair, the numerals 11 and 12 the two sides of the chair, and the numeral 13 the back of the chair including the seat back 14. The various external surfaces of the parts of the chair, except for the surfaces at the bottom, are all covered with a layer of upholstery 15, as is conventional, but in order to simplify the detailed description of the invention the upholstery layers will in general be considered as integral with the frame or solid parts which they cover.

The sides 11 and 12 comprise hollow rectangular frames, of box-like construction, which as usual would preferably be made of wood but which of course may be made of any other suitable material. The back 13 is substantially similarly made and formed. A bottom panel 16 provides a horizontal base and it is supported on four legs 17, one at each end of the side members 11 and 12. At its rear, however, the panel 16 is cut away, as shown at 18, so that it does not underlie the chair back 13; that is, the cut-out 18 extends laterally between the two side members 11 and 12.

5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of One of the side members, preferably that on the left side of the chair, shown at 12, has the intermediate portion of its outer Wall or panel 19 suspended on horizontal hinges 20 secured on the edge of a frame member 21 near the top of the member 12, so that it may be swung up and upward into horizontal position to serve as a tray. A supporting linkage 22, connected at one end to the panel 19 and at the other to the vertical end portion of the outer wall of the panel, these portions being shown at 19a, is provided at each side of the panel, to support the same in horizontal position and to collapse when the panel is normally suspended vertically. As such linkages are of common and standard construction, it is not believed necessary to describe them in detail.

The seat 10 comprises the horizontal actual seat 23, supported on vertical front and rear supports 25 and side supports 24, said supports resting on the base 16. The seat panel 23 is pivoted by means of hinges 26 to the top edge of the front support wall 25, so that it may be swung open to give access to a storage compartment 27 thereunder.

The back 13 includes the two side panels 28 and the bottom panel 29, the latter supported on two spaced legs 30. The back 13 is secured to the side members 11 and 12 by means of aligned removable bolts 31 passing through a the walls 28 of the back and the inner walls 32 of the side members, as shown in Fig. 5. When the back .is in normal vertical position, its legs rest on the floor and the lower end of its front panel 33 rests against the transverse border edge 34 of the cut-out 18 in the panel 16,

' s which keeps the rear member from tilting backward about the common axis of the bolts 31.

Vertical grooves 35 are provided in the exterior surfaces of the walls 28, facing the panels 32 of the side members, in a vertical line with the bolt 31, and pins 36 secured to the panels 32 project into and register in these grooves. It is thus apparent that, upon extracting the bolts from the walls 32, the entire back 13 may be lifted, with the pins 36 riding in the grooves 35, and swung forward and down upon the chair seat 10, Figs. 3 and 7, so that the normally rear panel 37, Fig. 2, of the chair now becomes a horizontal panel which may be deemed a table top positioned between the side members 11 and 12. The front support 25 of the seat 23 has a pair of spaced legs 38 in front thereof, and the transverse upper portion 39 of the back 13, above the level of the tops of the side members 11 and 12, is hinged at 40 to a horizontal frame member 41 near the top of the back. This portion or flap 39 swings into the position shown in Fig. 7 and rests on top of the legs 33 to sup port the swung back in horizontal position. Further, it is apparent from Fig. 3, that with the bolts 31 withdrawn as above mentioned, the back 13 may be tilted into the position shown in broken lines. To accommodate for this tilted position of the back, the rear seat support wall 25 is cut away at 42, and openings 42a in the base 16 accommodate the legs 30.

The back member 13 has its outer wall 37 hinged at 43 to a horizontal frame member 44 and served by a collapsible support linkage 22a, similar to the linkage 22, to permit swinging thereof into horizontal position, giving access to a storage compartment 45 in the member 13.

Further, the tops of the side members 11 and 12 are divided into front and rear sections 46 each hinged at 47 to the ends of their respective members 11 and 12, so that they may be swung upward as shown .in Fig. 6, to give access to the compartments thereunder, that is, the compartment 48 between the frame member 21 and the sections 46 in the side member 12, and to the compartment 49 in the side member 11.

Thus has been provided a combination adjustable utility chair serving additional and useful purposes in addition to those commonly provided in chairs.

Obviously, modifications in form or structure may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

1. claim:

1. A chair comprising a hollow normally upright back member, hollow upright side members, said back member being normally positioned between the rear ends of said side members and extending above the tops thereof, a hollow horizontal seat member having the top thereof positioned below the tops of the side members, a horizontal base panel underlying said side members and said seat member and supported on legs, the inner Walls of said side members adjacent the back member having aligned pins positioned on an axis situated between the levels of the tops of the side members and the top of the seat member, the side walls of the back member having co-planar grooves in the outer surfaces thereof, said pins registering in said grooves, said normally upright back member being adapted to be swung about said axis, after lifting of the back member with said pins riding in said grooves, through an angle of 90 degrees to position the back member horizontally on said seat member thereby positioning the rear wall of the back member horizontally between said side members, said chair at the front thereof having additional spaced legs secured to the front of the chair between said side members and having their upper ends approximately in the horizontal plane of the tops of said front and rear upright seat member walls, the front wall of said back member having a flap hingedly suspended from the top edge thereof, said flap upon positioning the back member horizontally as aforesaid assuming a vertical position by gravity and having the lower edge thereof rest on the upper ends of said additional legs to support said back member rigidly in horizontal position.

2. The chair set forth in claim 1, said back member having a bottom wall normally in the plane of said base panel and having legs extending downward from the front edge thereof, said seat member comprising spaced parallel front and rear upright walls supported on said base panel and having a seat panel thereon, said rear upright wall and the rear end of said seat panel being spaced forward from the front wall of said back mem' ber, said back member being tiltable rearward about said axis through a small are after lifting the same as aforesaid but a shorter distance, a limit stop to said tilting provided by contact of said front wall of the back memher with said rear upright wall of the seat member, and openings in said base panel receptive of said last-named legs, said back member after tilting thereof as aforesaid to the limit stop position being adapted to be released to fall by gravity, said last-named legs then registering in said openings.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 520,284 Palmer a- May 22, 1894 624,812 Hunzinger May 9, 1899 879,803 Vlasak Feb. 18, 1908 1,231,303 Seligman June 26, 1917 2,357,214 McDole Aug. 29, 1944 2,512,416 Cockrell June 20, 1950 2,705,994 Stattler Apr. 12, 1955 2,716,775 Kenimer Sept. 6, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 470,700 Great Britain Dec. 4, 1936 

